An organization working to put more Arkansas teachers in rural and high-poverty districts just received a $5 million grant to help fund their efforts. Ozarks at Large's Daniel Caruth has more.
Since around 2020, school districts in Arkansas have struggled to recruit and retain teachers, with numbers from the state's education department showing a steady drop in certified teachers year over year in public schools. The issue is part of a larger nationwide shortage, with 1 in 8 teaching positions in the U.S. either unfilled or staffed by teachers who are not fully certified. That's according to a 2020 study from the Learning Policy Institute, based on data from the U.S. Department of Education.
The nonprofit Arkansas Teacher Corps is hoping to change that.
"We know that there are persistent teacher shortages in particular areas of our state. Rural schools in particular struggle everywhere. But in the Arkansas Delta, we find especially this correlation between schools that experience a lot of poverty and being able to recruit licensed, qualified teachers."
That's Arkansas Teacher Corps executive director Brandon Lucius. The group recently received a $5.1 million grant from the Walton Family Foundation to help fund 114 new fellowships.
"We're going to be able to both recruit new teachers — folks like recent college graduates or career changers — to actually move and be a teacher in a new community, but also able to support schools that have teachers on waivers or other uncertified teachers on some kind of exception to actually get into a licensure pathway and get licensed."
The Alternative Teacher Certification program is part of the University of Arkansas College of Education and Health Professions, and is modeled after national programs like Teach for America. Lucius says the goal of the program is to help schools with high turnover — mostly rural and high-poverty schools — attract qualified teachers long-term, or train people already in the community to become certified.
"Whether it is someone already in the community teaching, maybe unlicensed, or maybe a paraprofessional or some other kind of support role in the school that's not a classroom teacher — those folks are already there, living in the community. And we're providing them this pathway where they can get licensed, they can become a teacher, and they never have to leave. They can stay there.
"At the same time, when we are out recruiting at a college career fair, or maybe at a workforce development center throughout the state or even just online throughout the country, when we're bringing in people, we're always thinking about what connections do they have. We're looking for folks who maybe are from that community and have moved away and are now looking to move back, or they have family there or some kind of family history in that area.
"We're looking for something that is going to be meaningful to them so that when they're in that community, they feel that support, they feel invested in what the school and the community are trying to achieve for their youth. And ultimately, they have a little more context and understanding for what's going on in that community because of that connection."
According to the Arkansas Department of Education, just under 10% of the state's more than 35,000 teachers have a licensure exemption. The most common exemption is through Act 1240 of 2015, which allows districts to petition the state Board of Education for waivers due to teacher shortages based on subject matter or geographic area. Lucius says without those waivers, many districts wouldn't be able to operate within their budgets.
He says certifying these unlicensed educators and paraprofessionals is one significant way to help solve the state's teacher shortage.
"With licensure, the biggest obstacle is practice testing. We know that there's tons of debate amongst the general public around the role of standardized testing with students, and unfortunately some of that applies with teacher training as well. Our teachers have to pass standardized tests — in some cases up to six tests to become a teacher. And that's not only just a lot of content knowledge to master, but it's a lot of time to study and take those tests. And it's a lot of money to pay for each of those tests.
"And so we have really started investing in the support we're providing to our teachers with licensure — making sure that they have study materials, making sure that they have a tutor who can really sit down and help them one on one with the issues they're facing, and then making sure that we have financial assistance that pays for those study materials for them, but then also will pay for their test. And these are all things that are being covered by this grant."
Fellows in the Teacher Corps program go through a six-week training period before they begin a three-year placement at a school, while they receive additional training and support.
"At the end of that three-year process, once they've completed all the requirements and passed all of their tests, they get licensed as an Arkansas teacher, and are then just like any other teacher."
Lucius says cost is one of the main barriers to the teacher shortage for the schools they work with. Money that many schools relied on from pandemic relief funds has mostly dried up. And while new regulations from the Arkansas LEARNS Act, passed in 2023, has meant higher salaries for many teachers, that can often be a burden for the districts.
Many public school officials also point to the act's voucher program as a factor in Arkansas's drop in public school enrollment. Last school year, more than 9,000 students — around 2% of total enrollment — left the state's public schools, and that in turn means less funding for some of the state's more vulnerable school districts.
"The decrease in student enrollment has led to some budget crunches. And that is part of the problem where they're trying to balance their budgets. And at the end of the day, having to make some hard decisions. And part of those decisions is, how are we recruiting our teachers? How are we retaining our teachers?
"And ultimately, I think it is a pivot from not just recruiting, but really to retaining, because of the amount of money that is lost every time a teacher leaves, having to recruit a replacement, having to train a replacement. And so when you can retain a teacher, you actually save a lot of money long term. And that's sort of the case that we try to make to our partners — we actually have data from a recent evaluation that fellows in our program are actually 20% more likely to still be teaching five years later than other people in those same districts. And so programs like ours — being able to train a teacher, make sure they have that connection to the community, and then making sure that they are there and invested in that community long term."
So far, the Arkansas Teacher Corps has recruited, trained and supported more than 320 teachers in 95 schools and 42 school districts throughout the state.
"We focus on public schools because we know that public schools are usually that core infrastructure in smaller rural communities. Rural public schools are usually the No. 1 employer in their area. They provide that core, beating heart of the civic part of the community. And then ultimately, we know that schools are producing the students that are tomorrow's leaders. And so whether you've got kids in the schools or not, your community and your life is going to be shaped by essentially the product being produced from that school."
Lucius says the Arkansas Teacher Corps is recruiting for the next cohort of fellows, expected to begin their training later this year.
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